The summer fruit season is sadly coming to an end as we turn into meteorological autumn at the start of September. Personally, I’m still hoping that summer will return. This year has been much cooler and cloudier than I’d like. However, the garden is happy and whilst our new pear tree was somewhat lacking in, well, anything, our old apple tree is abundant with fruit. So lots of new apple recipes are on the way!
Stone fruits are at their peak ripeness just now. I love juicy plums and super sweet nectarines, particularly the ones with deep yellow flesh. The vibrant colours found in these fruits are full of tiny healthful compounds including a group of phytonutrients called polyphenols. There are a huge range of these compounds that have a positive impact throughout the body.
I’ve been doing a deep dive into these nutrients whilst researching my new book, Healing From The Inside Out and there’s two outstanding benefits we gain from eating these compounds:
- Friendly gut bacteria love to dine on polyphenols. When we eat a good range and amount of foods containing these compounds, it enables the microbiome to thrive. And when our gut bugs are happy and healthy, they repay the favour and help us to do the same by creating short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) that in turn help reduce inflammation and improve messenger signalling within the body.
- Polyphenols have strong anti-inflammatory impact by stabilising reactive compounds and oxidants that can cause further damage in the body. Recent research has revealed that abundant friendly microbes in the gut activate these anti-inflammatory effects in polyphenols.
Essentially, gut health and overall health are inextricably linked. And the key way to look after our friendly microbes is to eat a range of whole plant foods like colourful fruits and vegetables, wholegrains, beans, pulses, nuts and seeds. This message is slowly becoming more mainstream. But if you’re here on my website, it means you’re still ahead of what most people are doing!
There’s been lots of talk in the last few months about the importance of eating 30 different plant foods a week. This has been particularly promoted by the Zoe project and a number of well-known cooks like Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. And it’s good advice; a diversity of plant foods leads to a diversity of gut bacteria. As anyone who took my Eat Well Live Well course will know – it’s something I started teaching 8 years ago!
For many people, this is really challenging. There doesn’t seem to be any data on how many people manage to hit 30 a week. However, it is known that only a third of adults hit the 5-a-day target (for fruit and veg) and a large percentage of people eat a very limited diet high in meat and ultra-processed foods (UPF) in the Western world). It’s no wonder there has been such a huge increase in chronic health conditions over the last 20 years as meat and UPFs are seriously bad for gut health.
Have you tried to eat 30 different plant foods in a week? Or maybe you think you do, but never monitored it. If you fancy giving it a go, here’s a worksheet to help you keep a record. This is a really good exercise for those of you who stick to eating the same things every day. Even if they’re plant based, if you’re not eating a variety of foods, your microbiome still might not be thriving as wonderfully as it could.
I wonder how many days it will take you! Or at what point you have to start getting a bit more imaginative. I’d love to know how you get on. If you’re feeling brave, leave me a message in the comments below. Or send me a private message here if you’d rather.
This tasty crumble has seven different plants so it’s a great place to start your 30 plants odyssey. If you serve it with soya yoghurt, it’s eight! Apart from the awesome polyphenols, it contains some great fibre in the form of oats and ground almonds. These also contain healthy fats; almonds have vitamin E as well, another strong antioxidant. The spices contain a little magic too; cinnamon has it’s own anti-inflammatory effects and also helps move sugar into the cells where is needs to be. I love it when dessert is a health food!
I hope you enjoy this tasty plum and nectarine oaty almond crumble. And I’m looking forward to hearing how you get on with the 30 plant challenge. Your friendly microbes will be so happy.
Plum and nectarine oaty crumble
Ingredients
Method
- Pre-heat the oven to 180℃
- Wash and de-stone the plums and nectarines. Chop both into bite-sized pieces and place in an oven-proof dish
- Tip the oats, ground almonds and salt into a large bowl and mix well. Pour in the maple syrup and mix again. Add a little water to help the mix come together into sticky crumbs.
- Spread the oat mix over the prepared fruit. Sprinkle the coconut sugar over the top (if using)
- Place in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until the top is golden brown and the fruit juice just bubbling up the sides.
- Serve hot or cold with dairy-free topping of choice – cream, custard, yoghurt or ice cream.
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!
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